The American Medical Association Condemns Abortion [The · following set forth by the cal Association 1871] statement was American Convention in .. There we shall discover an eriemy iii · the camp; there we shall witness as I . hideous a view of moral. deformity as · the evil spirit could present. There we shall. find a class of men in every respect the opposite of the former; men who cling to a noble profession only to dishonor it; men who seek not to save, but ta·desttoy;- men knowtrnot' only" to · the. profession, but to the public, as ' abortionists .... Yes, it is false breth· ren we have most to feat; men whO' are false to their profession, false to ciple, false to honor, false to humanity, false to God. "Thou shalt not kill." This command· rpent is given to all, and applies to all without exception. . . . notwithstand· ing all this, we see in our midst a class of men, regardless of all· principle, re- gardless of all honor, Who daily deStroy that fair fabric of God's creation; who daily pull down what he has built up; who act in antagonism to that profes- SiOn of which they claim to be mem- bers. These modem Hetods, like their pro· totype, have a summary mode of deal- ing with their victims.· They perform the triple office of Legislative, Judi- ciary, and Executive, and, to crown the·· tragedy, they become the executioners. They seeni iJnpatient for the sacrifice; the "fiat" goes forth, and those innocent and helpless victims are not permitted ever to breathe that vital· air which God in His providence has destined for their use in common· with the rest of the human family. Their resting-place is rudely invaded, and that which would grow and ripen into manhood is cut off from existence by the hand of an educated assassin. Mark the monster as he approaches his work! . . . · . he stands by the bedside of his victim, with poisoned cup or instrument in · hand,· ready to 'proceed to the work of destruction. Does any compunction sail his corrupt soul, as he gazes on the field ·of his labors? Does he measure the extent of the foul deed lie is about to' commit? Or does he not fear that the uplifted hand of an avenging God . will suddenly fall on his guilty head? No; Judas·like. he solaces himself with the· prospect of thirty pieces of ,silver, and this forms the clirilax ·of his · tions! ·' But; as is found in many other·cases . of murder, there is no extenuating cir· cuinStance here that can change Or fy ·the character of his gtiilt. As in diiiary cases ofmlirder,' there' is no anger to prompt him to the deed, .no wrongs to be avenged, no jealousies to tie ap· peased. These he cannot point to as ex'- tenuating circumstances, and it matters not at. what state of development his . vktim may have arrived • it matters not · how small or hOw apparently insignifi- cant it may be • it is a· mlirder; a foul, unprovoked. murder: and. its. blood, like the blood of Abel, will· cry from earth to Heaven for vengeance. VIe have no foreign enemy to con· terid with, . but we have a domestic enemy, and that enemy is in our midst; . it surrounds us; yes, we have an un- principled, an insidious, an unmitigated foe to with, an enemy to the human family, as dark and as malignant as the spirit that sent it, . and it now becomes us to do part truthfully towards God in this matter, w crush the monster, and· to place the profession right before the public. For it is at this late date in the nineteenth century a doubtful question whether or not ,the profession of medicine •. with. all its boasted intelligence, with all the aids arid appliances which science and art can bestow · it is doubtful, with such a disgusted ·caudal .appendage as . the abortionist attached to it, whether' that profession is an or a .. disadvantage, whether itis 'a blessing or a cu.rSe, to the human family. . . . The abortionists are more destructive to hu· man life than ten British armies. Yet these monsters of iniquity are permitted to stalk abroad in open day, carrying worse than contagion with them, poisoning wherever they are permitted to touch, invading the very sources of life, and fattening on the blood of their victims. And yet the profession of medicine remains inactive· that profession· which is styled an honorable one; that profession so far· famed for its charity and benevolence, whose mission on earth is to do as much good and as little evil as possible to the human family - ·that profession, in the face of these evils, tolerates in midst these · men, who, with corrupt hearts and blood·stained hands, desti:oy what they cannot reinstate, corrupt souls, and destroy the fairest fabric that God has ever created, and yet all is dOne under the aegis, under the cloak, of that profession. Every practicing physician in the land (as well as every good man) has a certain amount of interest at stake in this matter. Every physician, as far as his practice extends, should feel that in his · professional department he is the shepherd of his flock, and it becomes his duty to see that these wolves in sheep's clothing not make any inroads· among them. The members of . the profession should form themselves into a special police to watch, and to detect, arid bring to justice these characters. They should shrink with horror from all intercourse with them, professionally or otherwise. These men should be marked as Cain was marked; they should be made the outcasts of society. It hdime that the seal of reprobation were placed oil these characters by all honest ·men; it is time that respectable men should cease to consult with them, . should cease to speak to them, should cease · to notic;e them except . with contempt. . RESOLVED, That we repudiate and denounce the conduct of abortionists, ari.d that we will hold no intercourse with them either professionally or other· wise, and that we w111, whenever an op- portunity presents, guard and protect the Tb,e' Counsel of Chalccdon, December, 1988 ·I